Police want people to join their panels

CASTLE Point residents have been urged to get involved with policing in their community.

Police officers [in the UK] want people to join a Neighbourhood Action Panel so they can tackle local problems together.

The groups hold regular meetings, about every six weeks, during which they set priorities to be tackled in their neighbourhood.

They are comprised of community leaders who can help give a picture of what residents want in their area. These could be church leaders, pub landlords, people from local businesses, or youth and community workers.

The first half hour of every meeting is open to the public.

Chief Insp Keith Davies, of Castle Point police is pushing for more residents to join these panels and make a difference.

He said: “It’s your opportunity along with your Neighbourhood Support Officer, who has responsibility for policing in your area, to work together and prioritise the policing issues that affect you, and then collectively problem solve.”

There are panels meeting in Benfleet, Hadleigh, Canvey central, Thundersley, and the Wintergardens ward of Canvey.

However, police are hoping to set up more so they can hear directly from the public.

Mr Davies said this was a key way to tackle antisocial behaviour problems as well as other local issues.

He said: “To make it go away, rather than putting a sticking plaster on it, we need a really good partnership approach to this.”